'V, 


June,  19iO 


^^       rn   •    Q  "" '  VouHLNo.  1 


-•  .  i 


Bulletin 


OF 


American  International  Corporation 


History  and  Development 

of 

New  York  Shipbuilding- 
Corporation 


120    BROADWAY     •      NEW    YORK 


I 


Bulletin  of  American  I?iter7tati(mal  Corporation 


History  and  Dcve/opmer/t 


of 


New  York   Shipbuilding 
Corporation 


>  *  3  -»1>>^3  >>,>  3      3  J 

J  '    '         '  ^     J  ,         '      *       ^       :» '      '       1        3    > 


120  BROADWAY   •    NEW  YORK 


Copyright  1920  Amerii-an  International  Corporation 


American  International  Corporation 


George  J.  Baldwin 
Charles  A.  Coffin 
William  E.  Corey 
Robert  Dollar 
Pierre  S.  du  Pont 
Philip  A.  S.  Franklin 
Joseph  P.  Grace 
Robert  F.  Herrick 
Otto  H.  Kahn 
Henry  S.  Pritchett 


'Boiif'J  of  T)i7'ecfo7's 

Frank  A.  Vanderlip,  Chairman 
Charles  A.  Stone,  President 

Percy  A.  Rockefeller 


John  D.  Ryan 
William  L.  Saunders 
James  A.  Stillman 
Guy  E.  Tripp 
Edwin  S.  Webster 
Albert  H.  Wiggin 
Daniel  G.  Wing 
Beekman  Winthrop 
William  Woodward 


Officers 

Charles  A.  Stone,  President 

George  J.  Baldwin,  Senior  Vice-President 


Matthew  C.  Brush, 

Vice-President 

Philip  W.  Henry, 

Vice-President 


Richard  B.  Sheridan, 

Vice-President 

Thomas  W.  Streeter, 

Vice-President 


Richard  P.  Tif^stEY,  Vice-President 

Joseph  S.  Lovering,  Treasurer 
Cecil  Page,  Secretary 


American  International  Corporation,  organized 
by  bankers,  business  men  and  engineers  of  the 
l-nited  States,  aims 

First — To  establisli  friendly  commercial  relations  with 
all  countries  of  the  world ; 

Second — To  participate  in  the  development  of  such 
enterprises — domestic  or  foreign — as  will  broaden 
the  scope  of  American  activities  and  lead  to  a 
better  understanding  of  international  relations; 

Third — To  promote  the  organization  of  corporations 
or  associations  to  bring  together  foreign  and 
American  bankers,  business  men  and  engineers, 
for  the  transaction  of  business  and  the  develop- 
ment of  undertakings  which  will  be  mutually 
advantageous. 


417951 


Underwood  &  Underwood 


GEORGE    J.    BALDWIN 


FOREWORD 

AMERICAN  International  Corporation  can  best  serve  the  three 
^^  purposes  which  inspired  its  organization  by  assisting  the  mer- 
chants, bankers  and  engineers  of  the  United  States  to  meet  their 
competitors  of  other  nations  in  the  marlcets  of  the  world  on  an 
independent  and  competitive  basis  and  thus  to  develop  our  country 
as  an  active  partner  in  the  world's  affairs  through  the  operation 
and  ownership  of  our  own  ocean  transportation  facilities.  The  suc- 
cessful world  trader  is  usually  the  one  who  is  best  equipped  to  deliver 
his  products  cheaply  and  quickly  at  his  customer's  door. 

Intensified  war  production  of  cargo  vessels  has  placed  the  United 
States  in  a  favorable  position  in  the  freight-carrying  trade  of  the 
world,  yet  along  with  this  development  our  present  ocean  transporta- 
tion lines  must  be  strengthened  and  more  fully  equipped  by  the  con- 
struction of  those  classes  of  passenger  liners  best  suited  to  each  of 
our  various  trade  requirements.  New  passenger  routes  must  be 
inaugurated,  supplied  with  suitable  vessels  and  operated  in  a  world 
service  in  which  both  the  freighters  we  have  built  and  the  passenger 
liners  we  are  now  building  and  shall  build  in  the  future  will  play 
their  proportionate  parts. 

Such  a  passenger  service  will  provide  direct  interchange  of 
passengers,  fast  freight  and  mails  with  those  foreign  countries  with 
which  we  trade  and  thus  tend  to  overcome  the  obstacles  placed  in 
the  way  of  free  trading  when  negotiations  are  conducted  through 
the  ports  and  firms  of  a  third  country.  If  we  are  to  hold  and  increase 
our  foreign  commerce,  it  is  essential  that  our  customers  be  enabled 
to  travel  in  American  steamships  operated  by  us  for  our  mutual 
benefit  and  sailing  directly  to  our  shores,  instead  of  being  compelled 
to  reach  our  markets  through  competitive  countries. 

The  position  which  our  shipping  now  holds  in  the  maritime 
world  by  reason  of  the  shipbuilding  and  ship  operating  facilities 
created  by  the  war's  demands  for  tonnage  marks  a  new  era  for  the 
United  States  on  the  seas — marks  an  upturn  from  the  ruinous  depres- 
sion into  which  our  merchant  marine  declined  after  the  Civil  War 
and  during  which  the  foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States  was 
almost  entirely  dependent  upon  the  foreign  shipbuilder  and  operator 
whose  first  object  is  always  to  benefit  the  trade  of  his  own  country. 
This  position  is  now  being  subjected  to  the  test  of  competitive  condi- 


tions  of  peai[:G.-time  workl.tiiade.  We  can  maintain  it  by  constructing 
and  opemtH^g:  in:  vYOpljci  C(?n3petkion  those  classes  of  ships  which  will 
contribute *m*ds<il;tjr*the*prap(?r 'founding  out  of  our  merchant  fleet. 

The  first-class  passenger  steamship  is  the  nerve  force  of  a  mer- 
chant marine.  Foreign  trade  of  any  magnitude  depends  primarily 
upon,  and  is  built  up  by,  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
regular  sailings  on  fixed  dates  of  first-class  steamships  with  the  best 
passenger  accommodations,  each  boat  designed  for  its  particular 
service.  Supplementing  them,  we  must  have  cargo  liners  of  from 
10,000  to  15,000  tons  deadweight  and  fitted  with  limited  passenger 
accommodations.  With  such  regular  service  radiating  from  the 
various  ports  of  the  United  States  to  the  other  ports  of  the  world, 
the  two  problems  of  finding  markets  for  our  normal  excess  of  produc- 
tion and  of  cargoes  for  the  great  fleet  of  freighters  built  during  the 
war,  can  be  solved. 

Alive  to  the  merchant  marine  problem  as  it  existed  during  the 
first  three  years  of  the  world  war,  American  International  Corpora- 
tion has  followed  the  situation  carefully  through  its  many  and  rapid 
changes  in  the  last  three  years.  Soon  after  its  formation  in  191 5, 
the  Corporation  cooperated  in  the  purchase  of  the  Pacific  Mail 
Steamship  Company  which  has  since  greatly  strengthened  its  service 
to  and  in  the  Orient  as  far  west  as  India,  has  re-entered  the  Atlantic 
with  regular  sailings  from  Baltimore  through  the  Panama  Canal, 
and  has  established  the  first  around-the-world  service  with  regular 
sailings  ever  undertaken  under  the  flag  of  the  United  States. 

In  1916  the  Corporation  made  important  investments  in  the 
United  Fruit  Company  whose  fleet  is  the  basis  of  a  growing  trade 
with  Central  America  and  the  West  Indies,  and  in  International 
Mercantile  Marine  Company  whose  great  strength  in  the  trans- 
atlantic trade  is  now  being  developed  by  new  services  to  the  German 
ports  and  into  the  Mediterranean. 

As  the  carrying  trade  outlined  rests  primarily  upon  the  ability 
to  construct  economically  the  required  types  of  ships  for  these  trades 
and  secondarily  upon  their  successful  competitive  operation,  Ameri- 
can International  Corporation  supplemented  its  ship  operating  in- 
terests in  the  fall  of  1916  by  taking  an  important  part  in  the  purchase 
and  expansion  of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  which  now 
owns  the  largest  and  best  equipped  yard  in  this  country  for  the  con- 
struction of  the  specialized  types  of  ships  essential  to  the  growth  of 
the  American  merchant  marine — a  yard  whose  reputation  for  such 
construction  was  already  well  established. 

Soon  after  the  entry  of  the  United  States  into  the  war,  American 
International  Corporation,   through  the  formation  of  a  subsidiary 


company,  undertook  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  great 
ship  assembUng  plant  at  Hog  Island  for  quantity  production  of 
freighters,  and  is  now  carrying  this  work  through  t(j  a  successful 
conclusion. 

The  most  vital  problem  now  before  this  country  in  connection 
with  its  foreign  trade  is  the  construction  and  operation  of  American 
ships  on  a  competitive  basis  with  those  of  other  countries.  This  is 
fully  understood  by  our  Congress  and  legislation  of  a  most  construc- 
tive character  is  now  pending  in  that  body,  which  promises  a  sound 
basis  upon  which  can  be  built  an  efficient  and  adequate  American 
merchant  marine. 

At  the  end  of  the  war,  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  found 
itself  with  a  complete,  well-balanced  plant  approximately  three  times 
as  large  as  in  1916  and  with  a  competent  organization  under  the 
leadership  of  President  M.  A.  Neeland  and  his  experienced  and 
capable  staff  of  executives,  which,  having  effected  this  expansion 
under  war  conditions,  has  now  established  this  development  as  an 
efficient  working  unit  for  peace-time  competition,  possessing  facilities 
for  the  construction  of  the  largest  modern  passenger  liners  and  war- 
ships. It  is  now  engaged  in  the  construction  of  forty-three  vessels  of 
various  classes  for  the  Government  and  for  private  interests,  among 
which  are  three  of  the  largest  battleships  for  the  United  States  Navy 
and,  for  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  the  most  important 
addition  now  being  made  to  the  passenger  fleet  of  the  United  States. 

Its  complete  facilities  and  its  experience  of  twenty  years  in  the 
construction  of  naval  vessels,  passenger-and-cargo  liners  and  such 
specialized  types  as  oil  tankers  and  colliers,  have  placed  the  Corpora- 
tion in  a  foremost  position  among  shipbuilders  and  assure  to  the 
American  merchant  marine  a  strong  support  in  its  competition  for 
an  adequate  share  in  the  carrying  trade  of  the  world. 

George  J.  Baldwin 

Senior  Vice-President 
American  International  Corporation 

Chairman  of  the  Board 

New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation 
May  15,  1920. 


Pach  Bros 


MARVIN    A.    NE  ELAND 


NEW  YORK    SHIPBUILDING 
CORPORATION 


OPERATING  today  the  largest  self-contained  plant  of  its  kind 
in  the  world,  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  is  equipped 
to  build  entirely  within  its  own  yard  from  raw  materials  any 
type  of  ship  from  collier  to  passenger  liner  and  from  destroyer  to 
superdreadnought.  Designed  primarily  for  the  construction  of  large 
passenger-carrying  vessels,  the  expanded  facilities  of  the  yard  are 
contributing  to  the  American  merchant  marine  the  most  important 
group  of  these  ocean  liners  now  being  built  for  our  merchant  fleet; 
and  at  the  same  time  the  yard  is  adding  more  naval  vessels  to  that 
splendid  list  whose  service  records  have  made  renowned  the  name 
of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation.  The  plant  consists  of  five 
double  and  eight  large  single  shipways  and  ten  smaller  ways,  served 
by  the  most  comprehensive  shop  facilities,  wherein  are  built  modern 
vessels  in  all  their  complexity  of  structure  and  equipment. 

The  attainment  of  this  plant  capacity  could  hardly  have  been 
possible  without  the  tremendous  impetus  given  to  American  ship- 
building by  the  war;  but  the  fact  that  "New  York  Ship"  and  not 
some  other  yard  has  established  America's  primacy  in  ship  con- 
struction, is  due  solely  to  the  inherent  strength  of  the  plant's  original 
layout  and  to  the  steady  development  of  its  organization  during  the 
past  two  decades. 

The  plant  of  the  present  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation 
was  started  in  1899  as  the  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  by  the 
late  Mr.  Henry  G.  Morse,  an  experienced  builder  of  bridges  and 
ships,  who  decided  to  break  away  from  the  old,  accepted  traditions 
of  shipbuilding  practice  and  establish  his  own  yard  in  which  he 
could  apply  to  this  industry  the  most  up-to-date  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery and  tested  methods  of  structural  steel  construction.  Just 
at  that  time  the  perennial  question  of  Governmental  assistance  to 
the  development  of  American  shipping  by  means  of  subsidies  for  pas- 
senger liners  was  more  than  usually  to  the  fore,  and  the  Industry 
looked  forward  to  a  period  of  extensive  business.  The  original  plan 
was  to  build  the  new  plant  on  Staten  Island  and  the  company  which 
was  formed  was  therefore  called  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company. 
It  was  found  impossible,  however,  to  acquire  the  contemplated  site 
and  investigation  was  made  of  locations  down  the  coast  from  New 
York  as  far  as  Virginia,  special  attention  being  paid  to  the  Delaware 
River  District.  The  result  of  investigations  by  several  inspection 
parties  was  the  purchase  of  a  tract  of  about  160  acres  on  the  east  side 

9 


LAYOUT    OF     S  H I P  W  A  Y  S 


Stretching  along  the  Delaware  are  the  various  groups  of  shipways  comprising  the 
present  yard  of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation.  To  the  original  covered 
ways  shown  on  the  left,  up-stream,  have  been  added  Ways  T  and  U,  show- 
ing white  superstructure;  four  open  and  six  covered  destroyer  ways,  and,  across 
Newton  Creek,  the  four  ways  of  the  new  South  Yard. 


of  the  Delaware  river  in  the  southern  part  of  the  city  of  Camden 
New  Jersey,  across  the  river  from  Philadelphia.     The  ground  condi- 
tions were  especially  suited  to  the  building  of  shipway  foundations 
and  railway  facilities  were  adequate. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  in  starting  this  shipyard  Mr.  Morse 
had  an  entirely  clean  slate  on  which  to  write.  He  was  able  to  free 
himself  from  many  of  the  traditional  shipbuilding  practices  that 
were  out  of  tune  with  the  advancing  mechanical  technique  of  the 
twentieth  century;  whereas  many  of  the  old  yards,  then  and  still 
in  existence,  were  the  result  of  gradual  growth  over  many  years, 
some  of  them  even  from  the  days  of  the  wooden  ship,  and  were  there- 
fore handicapped  in  the  proper  installation  and  application  of  the 
improved  labor-saving  machinery.  The  yard  of  New  York  Ship- 
building Company  was  designed  for  the  use  of  just  this  machinery. 

FOUR  fundamental  principles  were  laid  down  in  the  design  and 
construction  of  this  yard;  then  considered  more  or  less  radical 
departures,  they  made  possible  the  new  war-time  yards  and  have 
been  generally  adopted  by  the  older  plants.    These  were:   First,  the 

lo 


general  application  to  shipbuilding  of  the  bridge-builder's  practice 
of  fabricating  steel  from  templets;  second,  the  routing  of  material 
through  the  yard  in  an  uninterrupted  course  without  back-hauling 
from  the  time  of  its  receipt  in  a  raw  state  to  its  erection  or  assembly 
in  finished  shape  on  the  ship;  third,  the  installation  of  an  overhead 
crane  system  of  the  traveling  type,  that  would  effectively  serve 
every  part  of  the  yard  and  ways  where  material  was  to  be  stored  or 
handled;  fourth,  the  housing  of  the  principal  shops  and  the  ways 
under  a  continuous  roof  structure  so  that  all  parts  of  the  work  could 
be  carried  on  regardless  of  weather  conditions.  This  last  point  does 
not  apply  merely  to  rain  and  cold,  for  a  mid-summer  sun  can  make  a 
steel  ship  on  an  uncovered  way  so  hot  that  it  is  practically  impossible 
to  continue  work  on  either  the  outside  or  the  inside  of  the  hull. 

In  particular  the  first  two  principles  outlined  above  brought  with 
them  the  necessity  for  other  innovations  in  the  details  of  ship  planning 
and  construction.  In  the  first  place  the  templet  system  introduced 
the  principle  of  specialization  which  was  becoming  an  increasingly 
important  factor  in  American  industrial  development.  Permitting 
complete  fabrication  of  steel  even  before  the  keel  of  a  ship  was  laid, 
the  templet  system  necessitated  a  drafting-room  organization  which 


^'-^ 


PLANT    LAYOUT 

Between  the  rear  of  the  ways  and  B  roadway  stretch  the  shops  and  storage  facili- 
ties'of  the  yard.  In  the  foreground,  just  beyond  the  railroad  tracks,  are  some  of 
the  storage  sheds  and  the  original  plate  and  angle  shop.  Immediately  behind  the 
original  covered  ways  is  the  machine  shop  and  back  of  this  the  power  house. 
Beyond  this  original  yard  layout  are  the  shops  and  storage  spaces  serving  the 
newer  groups  of  ways.    To  the  left  of  Broadway  are  the  administration  buildings 

and  supplementary  storage  yards. 


II 


THE  ORIGINAL  COVERED  WAYS  AND  SHOPS 

could  provide  the  complete  information  from  which  a  more  extensive 
mold  loft  could  make  its  templets.  This  in  turn  did  away  with  the 
old-fashioned  method  of  "lifting"  templets  from  W'Ork  in  place 
before  the  shop  could  function,  and  enabled  material  to  proceed 
directly  to  its  destination. 

With  the  plant  so  laid  out  that  material  would  move  steadily 
forward  from  the  storage  yards  to  the  shipways  and  outfitting  basins, 
a  system  had  to  be  devised  wdiereby  each  piece  of  material  would 
indicate  the  course  it  was  to  follow  through  the  plant  and  the  work 
to  be  done  on  it  in  the  shops  through  which  it  was  to  pass.  This 
problem  was  solved  by  the  development  of  a  system  of  letters  and 
numbers  painted  on  each  piece  of  material,  which  both  indicated 
the  routing  and  identified  the  detailed  blue  prints  w^hich  had  been 
distributed  to  the  shops  as  working  instructions.  Closely  allied  with 
this  was  a  cost  system  involving  a  classification  of  material  and  an 
allocation  of  expense  items  which  has  proven  most  satisfactory. 

The  introduction  of  revolutionary  methods  in  any  industry  is 
inevitably  accompanied  by  cries  from  the  "old  school"  that  it  cannot 
be  done.  Such  was  the  experience  of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Com- 
pany. It  had  to  meet  opposition  not  only  from  the  established 
yards  but  even  from  some  of  the  men  gathered  together  to  put  these 
plans  into  operation ;  many  were  doubtful  as  to  the  possibility  of  suc- 
cess, some  w^ere  even  more  skeptical  and  a  few  were  obstinate  to  the 
point  of  insubordination  in  refusing  to  carry  out  the  new  ideas.  These 
few  had  to  be  eliminated  and  the  others  won  over  to  cooperation  in 
applying  these  novel  methods  to  so  old  and  conservative  a  trade  as 
shipbuilding. 

The  particular  point  of  contention,  since  it  was  the  idea  most  at 
variance  with  established  custom,  was  the  extensive  application  of 
the  templet  system.  A  templet  is  a  wooden  or  paper  pattern  in 
accordance  with  which  the  steel  plates  or  beams  or  other  fabricated 
parts  are  worked  up.  Under  the  old  practice  it  w^as  customary  to 
develop  only  the  frame-work  and  a  very  small  part  of  the  ship's 

12 


THE    MOLD    LOFT    WHERE    THE    TEMPLETS    ARE    MADE 

In  the  upper  picture  are  some  of  the  wooden  templets  or  patterns,  and  in  the  lower 
view  templets  of  paper  are  being  made.  The  steel  for  the  ships  is  shaped  and 
punched  in  accordance  with  these  patterns  which  are  laid  out  with  the  greatest 

accuracy  and  completeness  of  detail. 


13 


PLATE    BENDING    FLOOR 
A  section  of  one  of  the  shops  where  steel  plates  are  heated  and  shaped. 


structure.  After  the  frames  had  been  erected  and  elaborately  trued 
into  place,  the  balance  of  the  work  was  done  by  shipfitters  who  con- 
structed wooden  templets  at  the  ship's  side  and  took  them  to  the 
shops  as  patterns  for  fabricating  the  parts.  The  new  methods 
afforded  much  greater  accuracy  of  construction  than  was  obtained 
in  the  old  way. 

Introduction  of  the  templet  system  carried  this  same  degree  of 
exactitude  in  the  erection  of  the  frames  to  the  construction  of  the 
entire  ship.  The  men  in  the  mold  loft  became  specialists  in  working 
up  these  templets  from  drawings  with  mathematical  precision.  It 
was  soon  found  that  the  templets  could  be  made  of  paper  in  most 
cases,  thus  materially  reducing  their  cost.  These  light  paper  patterns 
were  easily  carried  to  the  shops  where  the  steel  was  fabricated  to 
conform  with  them  exactly.  Then  the  steel  parts  were  transported 
to  the  ships  where  they  fitted  into  place,  thus  eliminating  a  large 
amount  of  the  work  formerly  done  by  the  shipfitters.  So  exact  has 
the  w^ork  become  from  the  introduction  of  templets  that  the  rivet 
holes  in  two  or  even  three  thicknesses  of  plates  and  angles  match 
perfectly  when  these  parts  are  assembled. 

The  advantages  of  this  system  are  obvious.  There  is  no  need  for 
waiting  until  a  certain  portion  of  a  ship  has  been  built  before  the 

14 


rest  of  the  parts  can  be  constructed,  for  the  shops  can  go  ahead  with 
their  work  from  templets  for  any  part  of  a  ship  at  any  time,  knowing 
that  when  that  particular  part  is  wanted  by  the  ship  erectors  it  will 
fit  its  appointed  place  because  it  is  just  the  right  size  and  because 
every  other  part  of  the  ship  that  has  been  erected  has  fitted  with 
equal  nicety  and  has  left  that  place  the  size  anticipated  from  the 
beginning.  This  being  the  case,  templets  for  an  entire  ship  can  be 
made  before  any  of  the  raw  material  for  the  construction  of  that  ship 
has  been  delivered  at  the  yard,  and  one  such  set  of  templets  can  be 
used  for  the  building  of  as  many  ships  of  the  same  design  as  may  be 
wanted.  It  was  the  templet  system  that  made  possible  the  large 
output  of  standardized  ships  from  Hog  Island  and  from  the  other 
ship  assembling  yards  built  as  a  war  measure;  but  the  system  had 
spread  from  New  York  Ship  to  other  yards  long  before  the  entrance 
of  the  United  States  into  the  war. 

That  these  four  principles  embodied  in  this  new  yard  were  sound 
both  in  conception  and  in  execution,  is  proven  on  two  counts:  first, 
that  they  have  endured  successfully  over  a  period  of  twenty  years, 
during  which  the  plant  has  trebled  in  size;  and  second,  that  they 
have  been  adopted  and  copied  by  other  shipbuilders  throughout  the 
country.  That  their  introduction  abroad  has  not  been  more  exten- 
sive is  due  more  to  the  opposition  of  labor  to  the  introduction  of 
labor-saving  methods  and  to  the  Old  World's  disinclination  to  scrap 


RADIAL    DRILL    CUTTING    RIVET    HOLES     IN    CURVED    PLATE 


15 


existing  equipment  and  organization,  than  to  any  deficiency  in  their 
practical  working.  This  difference  between  European  and  American 
methods  of  ship  construction  is  an  important  factor  in  our  abiHty 
to  build  ships  successfully  in  competition  with  the  Old  World  yards. 


PLATE    AND    ANGLE    SLAB 

The  angles  are  heated  in  the  furnaces  behind  the  "slab"  and  are  then  bent  to  the 

desired  shape. 
(Below)  A  closer  view  of  the  furnaces. 


i6 


EARLY  ORGANIZATION 


THE  organization  which  was  built  up  in  the  early  days  of  the 
company  for  the  construction  and  operation  of  the  yard,  was 
such  as  might  be  gathered  together  at  any  time  where  speed  of 
execution  was  a  necessity  and  where  a  new  and  unusual  under- 
taking w^as  to  be  put  through.  There  were  some  skilled  ship- 
builders, of  course;  there  were  men  experienced  in  the  structural 
steel  industry;  there  were  some  who  were  familiar  with  the  increas- 
ing tendency  toward  the  use  of  labor-saving  machinery — a  some- 
what diversified  group  assembled  by  a  man  who  had  a  vision  which 
he  wanted  to  make  live.  For  the  manning  of  the  plant,  gangs 
were  recruited  with  their  leaders  from  structural  steel  shops  and  men 
from  other  trades  were  taught  to  handle  the  pneumatic  rivet  "gun. " 

As  was  inevitable,  there  was  some  working  at  cross  purposes  in 
the  early  days  of  the  plant,  some  shifting  of  blame;  but  as  the  men 
came  to  know  each  other  and  as  the  plan  on  which  they  were  working 
began  to  take  visible  form,  the  spirit  of  team-play  and  of  cooperation 
asserted  itself  and  welded  the  organization  into  an  efficient  group 
which  was  later  to  prove  capable  of  the  same  effectiveness  under  the 
stress  of  rapid  expansion.  Old  timers  at  the  yard  still  reminisce 
about  Contract  No.  i,  launched  as  the  freighter  M.  S.  Dollar,  but 
later  changed  to  an  oil  tanker  and  renamed  the  /.  M.  Guffey.  This 
was  the  first  ship  that  many  of  the  men  in  the  yard  had  ever  seen 
in  the  process  of  building,  and  every  noon  hour  she  was  the  center 
of  an  interested  group.  She  was  launched  with  her  funnel  in  place, 
and  some  wags  took  advantage  of  that  fact:  at  the  right  moment 
they  touched  a  match  to  a  pile 
of  oil-soaked  waste  under  the 
stack,  and  as  the  good  ship  slid 
down  the  ways  she  belched  forth 
clouds  of  black  smoke.  In  short, 
this  new  yard  was  started  in  a 
spirit  of  high  adventure  and  that 
spirit,  expressed  in  such  typically 
American  exaggeration  as  at- 
tended the  launching  of  the 
M.  S.  Dollar,  overcame  the  skep- 
ticism and  opposition  of  the  old- 
line  ship-builders  and  brought 
the  yard  successfully  into  life. 

Parenthetically,  it  may  be 
noted  that  what  was  exaggeration 
less  than  twenty  years  ago  is  a 
fact    now.      New    York    Ship's  ioo-ton  flange  press 


17 


overhead  crane  system  is  so  strong  and  complete  that  any  ship  of 
ordinary  size  can  be  equipped  with  boilers  and  engines  while  on  the 
ways  and  can  be  launched  with  steam  up. 

The  emphasis  that  was  laid  from  the  very  start  upon  the  necessity 
for  adapting  and  developing  every  efficient  labor-saving  mechanism, 
must  not  be  forgotten ;   because  in  this  very  factor  of  modern  equip- 


DESTROYERS     BEING     COMPLETED     ON    THE     WAYS 

The  crane,  which  is  arranged  to  serve  the  four  open  ways  of  the  new  destroyer 
yard,  is  swinging  one  of  the  main  boilers  into  place. 

ment  properly  assembled  for  the  entire  process  of  building  a  ship, 
lies  the  greatest  strength  of  the  yard  as  it  stands  today.  The  organ- 
ization was  not  content  merely  with  what  was  already  available  in 
labor-saving  machinery;  it  experimented  unceasingly  to  save  time 
and  labor  in  ship  construction,  in  the  fabrication  of  the  steel  for  the 
ships  and  in  the  handling  of  the  material.  As  a  result,  not  a  few 
machines  have  been  invented  and  new  methods  of  work  developed 
right  in  the  plant.  Of  the  machines,  probably  the  most  widely 
known  is  the  Lysholm  plate  punching  table,  of  which  the  first  one 
was  designed  and  built  at  the  yard,  to  permit  the  easy  and  rapid 
shifting  of  a  heavy  plate  under  a  rivet  punch. 

The  yard  was  designed  primarily  for  the  building  of  large  pas- 
senger liners  in  view  of  what  then  seemed  the  probability  of  Govern- 

i8 


LYSHOLM  PLATE  PUNCHING  TABLE 

The  plates  rest  on  the  wheels  which  are  part  of  a  movable  platform.     By  the  manip- 
ulation of  control  levers,  the  operator  can  bring  the  marks  for  the  rivet  holes  exactly 

under  the  punch. 


RADIAL    DRILL    USED    FOR    REAMING    RIVET    HOLES 


mental  assistance  in  the  operation  of  these  ships,  and  such  splendid 
examples  of  this  class  of  vessel  as  S.  S.  Mongolia  and  Manchuria, 
contracts  5  and  6,  were  among  the  very  first  ships  built  at  the  yard. 
The  expected  subsidies  did  not  materialize,  however,  and  the  antici- 

19 


pated  expansion  of  shipbuilding  in  the  United  States  was  suddenly 
checked  within  a  few  years  after  the  completion  of  the  yard.  There 
then  ensued  a  period,  which  lasted  until  1915,  during  which  the  yards 
of  this  country  were  forced  to  seek  and  accept  the  construction  of 
any  type  of  vessel  that  would  keep  their  ways  in  use  and  their 
organization  intact.  Even  though  a  newly  established  yard,  New 
York  Ship  was  able  to  obtain  its  proper  proportion  of  business  in 
competition  with  the  other  yards  of  the  country,  and  in  1912  It  was 
fourth  among  the  shipyards  of  the  world  in  point  of  tonnage  pro- 
duced in  that  year.     Although  its  output  consisted  of  many  types 


ONE  SECTION  OF  THE  BOILER  SHOP 

of  craft,  the  quality  and  efficiency  and  speed  of  the  work  did  not  lag. 
In  fact,  the  diversified  experience  may  be  considered  to  have  been  of 
the  greatest  value  in  rounding  out  the  ability  and  capacity  of  the 
organization  and  in  establishing  its  reputation  for  the  construction 
of  ships  well  designed  and  skillfully  built. 

An  interesting  contract  during  this  "lean"  period  in  ship- 
building was  that  in  connection  with  the  building  of  the  Pennsylvania 
Railroad  Tubes  under  the  East  River,  New  York  City.  A  British 
engineering  firm  had  the  contract  for  the  tunnel  construction  and 
invited  bids  from  New  York  Ship  for  the  building  of  the  huge  steel 
shield,  hydraulic  jacks  and  air  locks  which  were  necessary  for  cutting 
the  tunnel  through  the  river  bottom.      During  the  ensuing  negotia- 

20 


TWO    VIEWS    OF    THE    MACHINE    SHOP 


21 


tions  a  representative  of  the  firm  visited  the  shipyard  at  Camden 
and  inspected  the  boiler  and  machine  shops.  New  York  Ship  was 
given  the  full  order  for  the  shields,  jacks  and  air  locks,  and  the 
British  engineer  expressed  his  surprise  that  any  American  plant  was 
so  well  equipped  for  the  prompt  handling  of  such  an  order. 


,  ;  Xi 


"  IDAHO"     BOILER     ROOM 


PLATE    JOGGLING    MACHINE 


HANNA    YOKE    RIVETER 


22 


FIRST  NAVAL  CONSTRUCTION 

IN  1903  there  came  the  first  opportunity  to  bid  upon  and  under- 
take naval  construction — the  fore-runner  of  a  great  line  of  fighting 
ships  for  our  own  and  foreign  governments,  for  which  the  yard  has 
become  famous.  Two  armored  cruisers  were  to  be  built,  the  Wash- 
in  gto7t  and  Tennessee.  When  the  bids  were  opened  it  was  found  that 
New  Yorlc  Shipbuilding  Company  had  submitted  the  lowest  esti- 
mates, but  its  competitors,  bringing  pressure  to  bear  and  arguing 
that  New  York  Ship  was  a  new  and  untried  company,  were  awarded 


THE    FORGE    SHOP 
Showing  the  section  where  the  hghter,  or  blacksmithing,  work  is  done.    Compare 
these  small  steam  hammers  with  the  1200-ton  hydraulic  press,  pictured  on  page  37. 

both  contracts.  Under  protest  a  compromise  was  eventually  reached 
whereby  New  York  Ship  was  awarded  the  Washington  and  a  yard  then 
better  known  the  Tennessee.  Despite  many  expressions  of  doubt 
in  the  ability  of  New  York  Ship  to  do  this  work  properly  and 
promptly,  her  cruiser  was  delivered  to  the  League  Island  Navy 
Yard  on  July  30,  1906,  ten  days  in  advance  of  contract  time.  The 
Tennessee  was  delivered  on  July  11,  but  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
these  were  the  first  two  ships  which  had  ever  been  delivered  to  the 
Navy  Department  within  contract  time,  a  result  which  was  generally 
credited  to  the  competition  of  New  York  Ship. 

23 


In  submitting  its  bid,  this  plant  had  written  a  letter  pointing  out 
to  the  Navy  Department  that  the  horse-power  provided  for  in  its 
specifications  could  not  produce  the  specified  speed  of  twenty-two 
knots.  This  proved  true  in  the  case  of  both  cruisers ;  but  because 
of  this  reservation  the  competing  yard,  as  well  as  New  York  Ship,  was 
permitted  to  increase  the  boiler  pressure  from  250  to  265  pounds.  On 
their  speed  trials  the  Tennessee  made  22.16  knots  and  the  Washington 
22.27  knots,  giving  the  latter  the  title  of  the  fastest  ship  then  in 
the  United  States  Navy,  a  fact  which  her  trial  crew  duly  celebrated 
by  lashing  a  broom  to  her  masthead  as  she  returned  up  the  Delaware 
to  the  yard  of  New  York  Ship. 

Construction  of  this  armored  cruiser  reopened  the  question  of 
the  worth  of  the  templet  system.  Even  some  of  those  within  the 
organization  itself  doubted  the  practicability  of  applying  this  system 
to  such  large  and  complicated  work  as  was  called  for  in  building  this 
cruiser.  However,  templets  were  used  and  proved  even  more  effi- 
cient on  such  work  than  on  the  usual  work  of  merchant  ship  construc- 
tion. Undoubtedly  the  system  was  largely  responsible  for  the  speed 
with  which  the  cruiser  was  turned  out  despite  the  yard's  lack  of 
experience  in  building  naval  vessels. 

A  few  months  after  obtaining  the  contract  for  the  Washington, 
Mr.  Morse  died  suddenly.  The  next  day  bids  were  opened  for  three 
warships  of  the  Kansas  type  and  New  York  Ship  was  awarded  the 


ENGINE    ROOM    OF    THE    CRUISER    ''fEI    HUNG,'' 
SHOWING    HER    MAIN    TURBINES 

24 


MACHINING  A  PROPELLER  BLADE 


Kansas  which  was  rated  at  the 
time  as  a  first  class  battleship. 
Soon  after  her  delivery  to  the 
Navy  she  gave  a  particularly 
good  account  ol  herself  on  the 
historic  'round-the-world  voyage 
of  the  American  fleet. 

Since  then,  not  a  single  year 
has  passed  when  there  has  not 
been  some  ship  for  the  United 
States  Navy  in  the  process  of 
construction  at  the  plant,  and 
naval  officers  assigned  to  New 
York  Ship  for  supervision  of 
naval  construction  there,  now 
occupy  an  office  building  con- 
siderably larger  than  the  first 
administration  building  for  the 
entire  plant. 


"1X7 HEN  it  is  said  that  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  com- 
''  prises  a  completely  self-contained  yard,  it  is  meant  that  the 
facilities  are  provided  for  developing  through  every  step  of  the  process 
to  the  finished  ship  the  many  different  kinds  of  raw,  crude  or  semi- 
conditioned  material  which  are  used  in  modern  ship  construction. 
The  only  exception  to  this  statement  is  in  the  case  of  the  castings 
which  are  purchased  from  foundries  but  which  are  machined  at  the 
plant.  Among  the  more  important  kinds  of  material  that  are  brought 
into  the  yard,  worked  up  and  assembled  in  the  ship,  steel  plates 
and  sheets  form  the  bulk  of  the  crude  material.  From  these  are  made 
the  bottom,  sides,  decks  and  bulkheads  of  the  ship,  as  well  as  the 
boilers.  Next  in  importance  are  the  bars,  angles  and  shapes  which 
give  the  ship  structural  strength.  Iron  and  copper  piping  and  lumber 
are  required  by  the  millions  of  feet  to  equip  a  ship  and  provide  the 
interior  furnishings.  Tons  of  castings  and  of  forgings  of  steel  ingots 
are  used  in  building  the  ship's  engines  and  shafting.  In  addition  to 
this  heavy  material  there  are  thousands  of  items  of  minor  equip- 
ment including  wire,  hemp  and  manila  rope,  electrical  installations 
and  auxiliary  machinery.  Metals  used  range  from  iron  to  platinum. 
In  the  construction  of  naval  vessels  the  extremely  varied  require- 
ments of  armament  necessitate  an  additional  complexity  of  material ; 
a  modern  battleship  alone  calls  for  approximately  one  hundred  miles 
of  electrical  wiring. 

Under  the  layout  for  the  original  yard,  which  is  still  in  effect, 
this  raw  material  is  brought  in  and  stored  at  the  north  end  of  the 


25 


IMJUlililJUli' 


LDING     CORPORATION 
t:rane  and  track  facilities. 


^ 
^=^^1 

,     \vr\ 

1=) 

hr 

T II    Hj  ' '  1 

C=3       C=3 

rj^i^nn^ 

K 

Es: 

-Timnw^ 

in 

Jj 

1    mill 

\ 

UU 
0 

u 

nirol/ 

0 

y 

SHADED   PORTION  SHOWS  SIZE   OF   PLANT   PRIOR  TO 
DECEMBER,    19U). 


yard  whence  it  moves  steadily  forward  toward  the  ships  on  the 
ways  and  in  the  outfitting  basins.  Plates  pass  through  the  plate 
shop  where  they  are  straightened,  marked  off  according  to  templet, 
punched,  sheared,  planed  and  forwarded  to  the  storage  section  at 
the  head  of  the  ways.  A  series  of  traveling  cranes  handles  them 
throughout  the  entire  process.  Similarly,  the  angles  come  in  from 
the  steel  storage  shed,  work  down  through  the  angle  shop  in  the 
course  of  their  fabrication,  are  bent,  cut,  punched  and  riveted  to 
plates  or  other  angles,  and  are  finally  assembled  with  the  plates  in 
the  storage  base  at  the  head  of  the  ways  in  proper  sequence  for  their 
use  on  the  growing  ships.  From  this  base  another  series  of  traveling 
cranes  picks  up  the  material  as  needed  and  takes  it  to  its  proper 
position  on  the  ships  under  construction.  While  this  work  is  in 
process,  the  raw  material  of  tubes 
and  boiler  plates  is  being  trans- 
formed into  boilers  in  the  boiler 
shop,  and  in  the  machine  shop 
immediately  back  of  the  ways 
are  being  built  the  engines,  tur- 
bine or  reciprocating,  which  will 
furnish  the  propelling  and  aux- 
iliary machinery  for  these  ves- 
sels. A  1 00-ton  crane  on  a  spec- 
ial system  of  overhead  tracks 
can  pick  up  this  heavy  equip-  pipe  storage  racks 

ment  in  the  machine  shops  and  carry  it  either  to  a  ship  in  the  wet 
slip  or  to  a  hull  on  any  one  of  the  ways  in  the  original  yard. 


LUMBER  YARD  AT  NORTH  END  OF  PLANT 

28 


THE  LUXURIOUSLY  APPOINTED  ADMIRAL  S  RECEPTION 
ROOM  ABOARD  THE  ''mORENO'' 


Also  at  the  north  end  of  the  yard,  toward  the  waterfront,  there  is 
space  for  the  receipt  and  storage  of  the  vast  amount  of  himber  that 
is  needed  on  the  ships,  a  dry  kiln  for  curing  it,  and  the  joiner  and 
paint  shops.  In  the  joiner  shop,  lumber  is  worked  up  for  the  crew 
and  passenger  accommodations,  and  other  fittings.  This  shop  makes 
even  the  desks,  chairs  and  other  furnishings  as  well  as  the  most 
detailed  grille  and  panel  work.  The  paint  shop  gives  many  of  these 
wood  products  their  finish  before  they  are  installed,  and  it  also  has 
charge  of  the  vast  amount  of  painting  and  varnishing  from  keel  to 
wireless  mast  before  a  ship  is  ready  for  delivery.  In  a  well  equipped 
pattern  shop  are  made  the  patterns  from  which  are  cast  many  parts 
of  the  ship's  machinery  and  such  special  pieces  of  hull  construction 
as  hawse  pipes,  stern  posts  and  stems. 

The  original  plan  of  the  yard  provided  that  these  shops  should 
serve  three  double,  covered  shipways  called  ways  J,  K  and  L.  Each 
of  these  ways  is  120  feet  wide  and  604  feet  long;  and  under  the  same 
roof  with  them  is  the  wet  slip,  "H  ",  for  the  outfitting  of  vessels  after 
launching.  Sufficient  property  was  bought  to  the  south  of  these 
ways  to  provide  for  the  doubling  of  the  shipbuilding  capacity  of  the 
yard  by  making  the  south  side  of  the  third  way,  Way  L,  the  center 
line  of  such  an  expanded  plant.    The  first  step  toward  such  a  growth 

29 


THE    PLANT    IN     1916 

This  airplane  photograph  was  taken  shortly  before  the  company  came  under  its 
present  ownership.     Ways  M  and  O  had  not  then  been  covered  over. 

was  the  building  of  two  additional  double  shipways,  called  Ways  M 
and  O,  which  were  completed  in  1912  and  1915.  The  first  of  these 
ways  is  122  by  694  feet  and  the  second  124  by  784  feet,  making  them 
the  largest  ways  in  any  American  shipyard  at  the  time  of  their  com- 
pletion. With  the  further  expansion  of  the  yard  during  the  war, 
additional  series  of  shops  and  storage  bases  were  required  to  serve 
the  new  shipways,  but  in  each  case  the  layout  of  the  original  yard 
was  used  as  a  model. 


ONE    or    THE    STORAGE    YARDS 

Since  this  photograph  was  taken  the  R  «&  S  Plate  and  Angle  Shop  has  been  built 
at  the  further  end  of  the  70-ton  crane  runway.     (See  page  32.) 

30 


THE  NEW  CORPORATION 

IN  THE  first  half  of  the  last  century  when  American  clipper  ships 
dominated  the  seas,  sailors  turned  their  hand  to  shipbuilding 
during  the  time  between  voyages,  and  the  captain-trader  designed 
and  directed  the  building  of  the  ship  in  which  he  sailed  to  the  ports 
of  the  world.  There  was,  therefore,  a  direct  interest  of  the  builder 
in  his  boat.  Nowadays  shipbuilding  and  ship  operating  are  distinct 
and  highly  specialized  industries,  with  the  result  that  there  is  danger 
of  one  or  the  other  overlooking  the  community  of  interest  existing 
between  them.  This  interest  between  shipyard  and  ship  operator 
is  secure  in  the  case  of  New  York  Ship;  but  in  place  of  the  old-time 
captain-trader  putting  his  own  experience  on  the  seas  and  in  the 
ports  of  the  world  into  the  building  and  equipping  of  his  ships,  the 
present  Corporation  has  as  part  owners  a  group  of  ship  operators 
who  between  them  have  ships  sailing  the  seven  seas  in  many  kinds  of 
work  from  scheduled  passenger  and  freight  liners  to  tramp  ships  and 
tankers.  The  wide  experience  which  they  gain  under  these  diverse 
conditions  and  the  knowledge  which  American  International  Corpora- 
tion has  acquired  through  its  world-wide  trading  interests,  are 
available  to  the  shipyard.  Such  close  contact  wath  operating 
problems  coupled  with  the  extensive  facilities  and  the  wide  experi- 
ence of  the  yard  itself,  gives  assurance  that  vessels  built  by  New 
York  Ship  will  meet  the  requirements  of  both  operators  and  shippers. 

In  the  purchase  of  the  yard  in  November,  191 6,  American  Inter- 
national Corporation  was  fortunate  in  having  associated  with  it 
three  such  ship  operating  companies — Messrs.  W.  R.  Grace  &  Co., 
Pacific  Mail  Steamship  Company  and  International  Mercantile 
Marine  Company.  The  purchase  was  made  upon  the  recommenda- 
tion of  a  commission  of  engineers  and  naval  architects  who  were 
engaged  to  make  a  careful  survey  of  the  shipyards  along  the  x^tlantic 
seaboard.  The  commission  reported  that  New  York  Ship  was  the 
plant  best  organized  and  equipped  and  most  efficiently  operated,  and 
that  it  was  capable  of  considerable  expansion.  And  an  important 
consideration  was  that  the  quality  of  its  products  had  earned  for 
New  York  Ship  a  sterling  reputation  as  the  builder  of  many  of  our 
finest  naval  and  merchant  vessels. 

At  the  time  of  its  acquisition  by  the  present  owners,  the  yard  of 
New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  comprised  five  large  double  ways 
and  one  wet  slip,  all  under  one  roof,  and  behind  these  ways  all  the 
required  shops.  With  the  reorganization  of  the  company  in  1 9 1 6  under 
the  title  of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  and  the  attendant 
provision  of  additional  funds,  a  policy  of  expansion  was  inaugurated, 
of  which  the  first  step  was  the  construction  of  four  large  single  ways 
arranged  in  pairs  "T"  and  "U,"  now  600  feet  long.   The  ground  work 

31 


NEW    PLATE    AND    ANGLE    SHOP 

This  shop  was  built  to  serve  Ways  T  and  U,  the  rear  of  which  can  be  seen  at 

the  right  of  the  picture.    In  the  foreground  is  a  section  of  a  storage  yard,  showing 

the  tract:  layout  and  a  70-ton  traveling  and  a  30-ton  gantry  crane.    In  the  distance 

are  the  destroyer  and  South  Yard  shops. 

for  these  ways  is  designed  for  their  ready  extension  to  two  double 
ways  of  1,000  feet.  Their  potential  capacity  is  evident  when  it  is 
remembered  that  S.  S.  Leviathaii,  the  largest  passenger  liner  in  commis- 
sion, is  only  907  feet  long.  Back  of  these  ways  were  built  a  large 
plate  and  angle  shop,  steel  storage  shed  and  mold  loft  of  the  most  mod- 


INTERIOR      OF      NORTH     YARD      POWER    HOUSE 


32 


ern  design  and  equipment.  The  capacity  of  the  power  plant  was 
doubled  and  the  machine  shop,  which  had  extended  along  the  rear 
of  the  three  original  shipways,  was  lengthened  124  feet. 

Before  this  expansion  was  completed  the  United  States  entered 
the  World  War  and  there  came  the  demands  of  the  Navy  for  a  large 
number  of  torpedo  boat  destroyers  and  of  the  United  States  Shipping 
Board  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  for  cargo  and  troop  ships. 
These  departments  of  the  Government  urgently  desired  to  make  the 
greatest  possible  use  of  Xew  York  Ship's  organization  and  experience 
by  an  extension  of  its  shipbuilding  capacity.  Sufficient  land  was 
already  owned  or  was  available  to  the  south  of  the  existing  plant  to 
provide  for  two  separate  additions  to  the  yard,  either  one  of  which 
would  before  the  war  have  been  considered  a  large  yard  in  itself. 

The  first  of  these  additions,  which  was  constructed  for  the  account 
of  the  Navy  Department,  was  a  unit  of  ten  destroyer  ways  of  which 
six  are  covered.  This  unit  was  built  in  the  southern  part  of  the 
original  tract  of  land  bought  by  the  company.  Behind  these  ways 
was  built  a  large  plate  and  angle  shop  for  the  fabrication  of  the  steel 
for  the  thirty  destroyers  which  the  Navy  ordered,  and  the  machine 
shop  was  again  extended  124  feet.  For  the  outfitting  of  these  de- 
stroyers the  wet  basin  between  the  original  unit  of  covered  ways  and 
Ways  T  and  U  was  available. 

The  second  addition  to  the  yard,  built  through  cooperation  with 
the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation,  comprises  what  is  known  as  the 
South  Yard.  This  yard,  which  has  been  operated  on  behalf  of  the 
Fleet  Corporation,  is  entirely  separate  from  the  North  Yard  except 
for  executive  control  and  the  use  of  certain  facilities  of  the  older 
plant.  There  are  four  large  shipways,  each  103  by  750  feet,  designed 
for  the  construction  of  large  passenger  vessels.  The  shops,  which 
are  modern  in  e\'ery  respect,  include  a  machine  shop,  blacksmith's 


SOUTH    YARD    SHOP    A  X  D    WAYS 

33 


J 


{upper)    a  recent  view  of  the  north  end  or  THE  YARD 

The  two  succeeding  additions  to  the  machine  shop  which,  with  the  boiler  shop, 
extends  along  the  head  of  the  ways,  and  the  new  power  house  unit,  are  evident. 
At  the  left  is  the  traveUng  crane  shown  in  the  picture  on  page  30,  and  beyond  it  is 

the  cafeteria. 


(lower)   rear  view  of  the  destroyer  yard 

Destroyers  are  under  construction  in  all  of  the  six  covered  and  four  open  ways. 

The  shops  in  the  foreground,  replacing  those  which  were  destroyed  by  fire  on 

September  ii,  191 8,  had  been  rebuilt  by  October  30,  1918.    On  the  right  is  a  part 

of  the  superstructure  of  Ways  T  and  U. 


THE  FOUR  SOUTH  YARD  WAYS  AS  SEEN  FROM  THE  RIVER 


shop  and  the  necessary  power  station.  The  tract  of  land  comprising 
the  South  Yard  proper  is  of  thirty-eight  acres  situated  in  the  city  of 
Gloucester,  across  what  is  known  as  Newton  Creek.  Essential  stor- 
age facilities  were  provided  on  an  additional  thirty  acres  of  adjacent 
property. 

All  of  this  increase  in  plant  equipment  and  shipbuilding  capacity 
has  meant,  of  course,  corresponding  increases  in  the  administration 
buildings  and  in  the  main  ofhce  building.  Yard  administration  is  kept 
entirely  separate  from  the  general  executive  ofiftces  which  are  located 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street  which  forms  the  inland  boundary 
of  the  yard  itself. 

The  shipway  capacity  of  the  entire  plant  of  New  York  Ship- 
building Corporation  now  comprises  five  large  double  ways,  eight 
large  single  ways  and  ten  smaller  shipways  for  the  construction  of 
destroyers  and  other  small  craft,  giving  a  total  shipway  capacity  for 
twenty-eight  vessels  of  ordinary  size,  in  addition  to  the  ships  that 
can  at  the  same  time  be  in  process  of  completion  and  outfitting  in 
the  wet  basins.  With  the  exception  of  the  Government's  ship 
assembling  plant  at  Hog  Island,  the  shipway  capacity  of  New  York 
Ship  is  the  largest  of  any  single  yard  either  in  this  country  or  abroad. 
When  we  consider,  however,  that  behind  these  shipways  there  is  a 
shop  organization  for  the  complete  fabrication  of  practically  all  of  a 
ship's  parts,  and  for  the  manufacture  of  boilers,  engines,  lifeboats 
and  a  large  amount  of  miscellaneous  equipment,  the  assertion  is 
fully  justified  that  New  York  Ship  is  the  largest  completely  equipped 
shipyard  in  the  world. 

The  facilities  of  the  forge  shop,  particularly  for  the  shaping  of 
such  heavy  pieces  as  rudder  stocks,  shafting  and  so  forth,  are  ex- 
ceptional. They  include  a  1,200-ton  hydraulic  press,  the  most  power- 
ful in  any  American  shipyard,  which  is  used  in  forging  the  propeller 
shaftings  and  in  other  heavy  work.  The  plate  and  angle  shops  have 
a  combined  capacity  on  a  single  shift  basis  of  handling  7,500  tons  of 

36 


A     I200-T0N    HYDRAULIC    PRESS 
The  forging  of  a  rudder  stock  for  a  transport  is  shown  in  this  picture 


PART    OP    THE    OUTPUT    OF    THE    BOILER    SHOP 


S  M  A  L  L - B  O  A  T     SHOP 
38 


steel  each  month.  The  machine  shop  has  an  engine  building  capac- 
ity equivalent  to  about  75,000  H.  P,  a  year.  The  work  of  the  boiler 
shop  is  equivalent  to  the  production  of  four  Scotch  marine  boilers  of 
average  size  each  month ;  and  the  capacity  of  each  of  the  other  shops 
is  nicely  proportioned  to  this  scale  of  output.  When  there  has  been 
surplus  capacity,  orders  from  other  plants  have  been  filled.  On  such 
an  order  the  boiler  shop  recently  delivered  thirty-three  boilers,  and  the 
products  of  the  small-boat  shop  are  often  in  demand  by  other  yards. 
Yet  apart  from  this  capacity  for  ship  construction,  apart  from 
the  great  bulk  of  equipment  with  which  to  fashion  the  parts  that  go 
into  a  ship,  there  stands  out  preeminently  the  quality  of  the  ships 
themselves.  Their  superior  performance  under  the  conditions  of 
peace  was  emphasized  under  the  stress  of  war-time  service  in  which 
so  many  of  them  were  engaged. 

THE  SHIPS 

DURING  the  twenty  years  through  1919  since  the  yard  was  built, 
there  were  delivered  215  vessels,  comprising  29  warships  of 
236,146  displacement  tons;  67  merchantmen  of  503,418  deadweight 
tons;  and  119  miscellaneous  craft  of  170,334  displacement  tons.  At 
the  end  of  this  same  period,  thirteen  additional  vessels  had  been 
launched  but  not  completed  and  twenty-three  ships  were  in  the 
course  of  construction  on  the  ways. 

The  number  of  ships  built  and  the  variety  of  types  represented 
are  notable  evidence  of  the  wide  range  of  shipbuilding  experience 
which  the  yard  has  developed.  The  naval  vessels  include  eight  battle- 
ships, the  latest  of  them  the  United  States  Superdreadnought  Idaho, 
the  most  powerful  type  in  operation  by  the  United  States  Navy 
and  the  fastest  battleship  of  the  fleet,  which  was  delivered  in  March, 
1 919;  one  armored  cruiser,  one  protected  cruiser  and  nineteen  torpedo 
boat  destroyers.  Of  these  naval  vessels,  two  were  built  for  foreign 
governments,  the  battleship  Moreno,  of  27,566  tons  displacement,  for 
the  Argentine  Navy,  and  the  protected  cruiser  Elli  of  the  Greek  Navy, 
originally  the  Fei  Hung  for  the  Chinese  Navy. 

What  the  warships  are  capable  of  is  shown  by  the  performance  of 
the  Idaho  in  the  recent  maneuvers  of  the  Pacific  Fleet.  In  a  letter 
to  the  Chief  of  the  Engine  Installation  Department  at  New  York 
Shipbuilding  Corporation,  a  junior  engineer  officer  of  the  Idaho, 
writing  on  March  i,  1920,  says: 

"Upon  our  departure  this  a.m.  from  Santa  Barbara  for  San 
Pedro,  the  orders  of  the  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Fleet,  Admiral 
Hugh  Rodman,  while  not  actually  ordering  a  race  between  the  Texas, 
New  Mexico,  Mississippi  and  Idaho,  were  phrased  in  such  a  manner 
that  the  race  was  inevitable. 

39 


©  E.  Muller,  Jr. 


U  .    S  .    S  U  P  E  RD  R  E  A  D  N  O  U  GH  T    ''iDAHO'' 


This  vessel,  of  the  most  powerful  type  in  commission  in  the  United  States  Navy, 
was  built  by  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation,  and  put  into  commission  at 

the  plant  on  April  20,  1919. 


"These  four  vessels  were  maneuvering  at  eighteen  knots,  speed 
when  the  order  was  flashed  from  the  flagship  New  Mexico  for  each 
vessel  to  proceed  to  the  base  at  the  discretion  of  her  commanding 
oflicer.  This  order  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm,  as  It  meant 
that  the  long-looked-for  day  In  the  Pacific  Fleet  had  arrived  when  the 
much  discussed  question  could  be  settled  as  to  what  ship  could  show 
her  heels  to  the  rest  of  the  fleet. 

"The  concluding  maneuvers  of  the  day  brought  three  of  the 
ships  in  line  abreast  of  one  another— the  Texas,  New  Mexico  and  Idaho— 
all  awaiting  the  signal  that  would  let  them  go,  but  still  obliged  to 
run  together  and  not  exceed  eighteen  knots,  speed  until  the  signal 
concluding  the  maneuver  was  hauled  down. 

"The  wily  Mississippi  had  dropped  back  out  of  position  and 
came  up  Into  line  again  at  full  speed,  and  the  signal  was  hauled  down 
just  as  she  got  abreast.  But  as  she  was  at  full  speed,  she  gained  a 
decided  advantage  over  the  rest  of  us  who  still  had  to  work  up  to 
full  headway.  She  gained  a  full  ship's  length  on  us,  but  did  not  get 
a  chance  to  put  clear  water  between  her  stern  and  our  bow. 

"Captain  Vogelgesang,  of  the  Idaho,  called  for  more  speed  from 
his  engine  room.  Never  will  I  forget  that  scene,  when  an  excited 
messenger  reported  to  Commander  Bonvilllan  that  the  'Missy  was  a 
full  ship's  length  ahead.  Cool  and  passive,  never  Impulsive,  nor 
betraying  the  slightest  emotion,  his  order  came  in  a  quiet,  clear  tone 
of  voice:  'Open  her  up  gradually;  don't  pull  the  steam  down  in 
doing  so,  but  bring  her  up  to  top  speed ! '  I  watched  his  face,  looking 
for  sign  of  anxiety  or  emotion,  but  could  find  none.  With  just  the 
faintest  smile,  barely  noticeable,  he  turned  and  said:  'That  will  get 
them.'  And  it  did.  In  five  minutes  we  were  abreast  of  her;  the  New 
Mexico  and  the  Texas  had  dropped  astern.  In  another  five  minutes 
we  were  showing  her  open  water,  and  in  two  hours  and  a  halt,  with 
Point  Firmin  Light  abeam,  we  were,  by  stadlmeter,  about  6,000 
yards  ahead  of  the  Mississippi.  The  New  Mexico  was  barely  In  sight, 
and  the  Texas  was  not  to  be  seen.  The  average  speed  made  by  the 
Idaho  was  21.6  knots  per  hour. 

"The  race  was  concluded,  the  mastery  of  the  Idaho  was  firmly 
established,  and  with  'Gunnery  and  Engineering  Supremacy'  we 
hoisted  the  brooms  to  the  masthead,  indicating  a  clean  sweep,  and 
dropped  our  anchor  amid  the  cheers  of  the  auxiliary  fleet,  as  all  the 
world  loves  a  winner." 

In  a  letter  written  to  Mr.  Marvin  A.  Neeland,  President  of  the 
Corporation,  during  the  first  voyage  of  the  Idaho  in  commission, 
Captain  C.  T,  Vogelgesang,  U.  S.  N.,  said: 

"  I  am  very  happy  to  state  that  the  run  down  the  river  was  very 
successfully  accomplished  without  any  dlfiicultles  and  everything 
has  responded  perfectly  to  whatever  test  was  put  upon  it.      T  feel 

41 


TYPICAL    NAVAL    VESSELSl 


leship 

ass  battleship 
:leship 

type  destroyer 
ught 

f  type  destroyer 
liser 
s  battleship  wtien  built 


ILT    BY    NEW    YORK    SHIP 


that  we  have  a  magnificent  ship  and  I  think  great  credit  is  due  to  the 
corporation  of  which  you  are  President  for  the  splendid  execution 
of  this  work. 

"I  beg  leave  further  to  express  my  appreciation  of  the  uniformly 
generous  and  considerate  treatment  that  the  officers  and  the  men  of 
the  Idaho  always  received  during  the  time  that  they  were  associated 
with  the  Idaho  at  the  Works  of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation." 

OF  THE  merchant  ships  there  had  been  built  before  the  war  nine 
combination  passenger-and-cargo  vessels  aggregating  47,000 
deadweight  tons.  Heading  this  list  are  such  splendid  additions  to  the 
American  merchant  marine  as  S.  S.  Mongolia  and  Manchuria,  sister 
ships  formerly  in  the  Far  Eastern  service  of  Pacific  Mail  Steamship 
Company  and  now  on  the  transatlantic  schedule  of  the  American  Line. 
To  this  class  of  passenger-and-cargo  vessels  have  been  added  the 
two  transports  Santa  Elisa  and  Santa  Luisa,  delivered  during  1919, 
which  have  been  converted  to  commercial  use  and  have  been  put  in 
the  South  American  West  Coast  Service.  Twelve  freighters  totaling 
99,996  deadweight  tons  have  been  turned  out  by  New  York  Ship,  of 
which  the  Texan,  Nevadan  and  Nebraskan,  built  for  the  American 
Hawaiian  Line,  were  the  second,  third  and  fourth  vessels,  respec- 
tively, to  be  built  at  the  yard.  The  most  recent  type  of  large  freighter 
to  be  built  there  is  that  of  S.  S.  Champion,  Defender  and  Scottsburg, 
delivered  during  1919.  Each  of  these  ships  is  of  12,179  deadweight 
tons,  and  eleven  knot  speed.  They  are  oil  burners  with  a  steaming 
radius  of  9,700  miles. 

Quantity  production  of  specialized  types  of  merchant  ships  is 
indicated  by  the  two  groups,  oil  tankers  and  colliers.  In  each  group 
twenty-two  ships  have  been  placed  in  service  from  this  yard,  the  oil 
tankers  aggregating  183,561  deadweight  tons  and  the  colliers  60,928 
tons.  Many  of  these  tankers  traversed  the  dangerous  areas  of  the 
North  Atlantic  during  the  war,  and  it  will  be  remembered  that  one 
of  them,.  S.  S.  Gulflight,  was  one  of  the  first  American  ships  to  be 
torpedoed  before  the  entrance  of  the  United  States  into  the  war. 
Attacked  without  warning  in  heavy  weather  off  Bishop  Rock  on 
May  I,  1 91 5,  she  was  able  to  proceed  under  her  own  steam  to  a  safe 
harbor  in  the  Scilly  Islands,  despite  a  huge  hole  cut  through  her  bow 
just  abaft  of  the  fore-peak.  She  was  fully  repaired  and  again  in 
service  by  the  following  August.  Of  the  colliers  the  best  known,  by 
virtue  of  the  remarkable  speed  of  thirty-seven  days  in  which  she  was 
completed  from  the  date  her  keel  was  laid,  is  the  5500-ton  Tuckahoe 
which  on  the  fortieth  day  following  the  laying  of  her  keel  was  carry- 
ing coal  between  Atlantic  coast  ports.  Her  service  record  during 
the  last  two  years  shows  that  she  was  as  staunchly  constructed  and 
as  carefully  fitted  out  as  if  she  had  been  built  at  a  more  leisurely  pace. 

44 


''tuckahoe'' 


THE    5500-TON    COLLIER 

This  ship  was  launched  in  twenty-seven  days  and  completed  in  thirty-seven  days 

from  the  laying  of  its  keel.     Note  that  it  was  built  on  half  of  a  double  shipway  with 

another  ship  in  process  of  construction  alongside  of  it. 

The  other  craft  produced  by  New  York  Ship,  though  large  in 
number,  are  comparatively  small  in  aggregate  tonnage.  To  a  con- 
siderable extent  they  represent  the  "lean"  years  through  which  the 
American  shipbuilding  industry  passed,  particularly  the  ten  years 
preceding  the  destructive  U-boat  warfare.     This  miscellaneous  fleet 

45 


includes  naval  tugs  and  tenders,  fireboats,  revenue  cutters,  vessels 
for  the  lighthouse  service,  and  Army  Mine  Planters,  as  well  as  dredges, 
oil  and  coal  barges,  carfloats  and  ferryboats.  Five  "knocked  down" 
boats  were  built,  two  of  them  ferryboats  which  were  loaded  on  flat 
cars  and  transported  to  San  Francisco  where  they  were  assembled 
and  are  now  operating  in  the  harbor  there.  It  is  worthy  of  note 
that  the  two  large,  side-wheel  vessels  of  the  Hudson  River  Day  Line, 
the  Robert  Fulton  and  Washington  Irving,  which  are  famous  for  the 
beauty  of  their  decorations  and  appointments,  were  built  at  this  plant. 


''gulflight'' 


THE    TANKER 

Though  seriously  damaged,  as  this  picture  shows,  by  submarine  attack  off  the 
Scilly  Islands,  she  proceeded  to  port  under  her  own  power. 


46 


WARTIME  EXPANSION  AND  ACTIVITY 

THE  further  expansion  of  the  yard  by  the  construction  of  the 
destroyer  ways  and  of  the  South  Yard,  was  essentially  a  war 
measure,  the  former  to  supply  additional  destroyer  strength  to  the 
Navy  in  its  operations  in  the  War  Zone  and  the  latter  to  gain  vitally 
needed  troop  transport  capacity  for  army  purposes.  Six  months 
after  our  declaration  of  war,  or  in  October,  1917,  the  Corporation  was 
ordered  to  build  ten  destroyers,  a  type  of  vessel  in  the  construction 
of  which  it  had  already  gained  valuable  experience.  This  order  was 
increased  three  months  later  to  a  total  of  thirty  destroyers,  necessi- 
tating the  construction  of  the  new  unit  of  ten  destroyer  ways. 

The  South  Yard,  with  its  four  large  shipways,  was  planned  and 
its  construction  supervised  by  New  York  Ship  as  agents  for  the 
Emergency  Fleet  Corporation.  The  work  of  building  this  plant  was 
started  in  May,  1918,  and  the  first  keels  laid  in  May,  1919.  Though 
the  immediate  war-time  demand  for  transports  had  ceased  before 
any  of  this  type  of  ship  had  been  launched,  the  necessary  modifica- 
tions were  made  in  their  design  to  convert  them  into  passenger-and- 
cargo  vessels.  Thus,  this  addition  to  the  shipbuilding  facilities  of  the 
Corporation  is  serving  the  greatest  usefulness  in  producing  the  type 
of  tonnage  which  is  so  essential  to  the  proper  development  of  the 
American  merchant  marine.  The  present  order  for  sixteen  pas- 
senger-and-cargo  boats,  together  with  a  few  more  being  built  at  other 
yards,  comprises  the  only  important  addition  which  is  now  being 
made  to  the  fleet  of  American  passenger  ships. 

It  is  important  to  note  that  the  destroyer  and  South  Yard  units 
were  constructed  for  the  Government  by  New  York  Ship  at  actual 


THE    FIRST    KEELS    BEING    LAID    ON    THE    SOUTH 

YARD    WAYS 


47 


cost,  no  profit  being  made  on  this  essential  development  work. 
Recently  the  company  took  over  the  way  and  shop  equipment  com- 
prising the  South  Yard  on  a  profit-sharing  basis,  payment  to  be  made 
to  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation  out  of  earnings. 

That  two  such  important  additions,  together  with  the  necessary 
developments  of  many  of  the  auxiliary  units  of  the  yard,  were  built 
and  put  into  operation  at  the  same  time  that  work  on  many  ships 
in  the  original  yard  was  being  pushed  forward  with  such  speed  under 
the  stress  and  difficulties  of  war-time  conditions,  proved  the  engi- 
neering and  executive  capacity  of  this  organization  of  shipbuilders. 
During  the  highest  pitch  of  war  activity  the  new  plate  and  angle 
shop,  which  had  been  built  to  serve  the  destroyer  unit,  caught  fire 
the  night  of  September  ii,  1918,  and  burned  to  the  ground.     The 


PLATE    AND    ANGLE    SHOP    BEHIND    DESTROYER    WAYS, 
BURNED    SEPTEMBER     II,    I918 

next  morning,  while  the  ashes  were  still  hot,  a  large  gang  of  men 
were  at  work  clearing  away  the  debris.  Three  days  later  one  of 
the  original  machines  was  again  in  operation;  two  weeks  after  the 
fire  the  roof  of  a  new  plate  and  angle  shop  was  up,  and  a  week  later 
90  per  cent,  of  the  machinery  had  resumed  operation.  But  it  was  the 
steady  strain  of  the  heavily  expanded  load  on  New  York  Ship's 
productive  capacity  rather  than  such  a  temporary  crisis,  that  gave 
the  true  test  of  the  organization's  merit. 

To  direct  this  huge  plant  working  at  high  pressure  day  and  night, 
was  no  mean  test  of  administrative  skill  and  leadership.  There  was 
not  an  executive  from  the  President  and  his  staff  in  the  main  office 
building  through  the  Works  Manager  in  the  yard  administration 

48 


A    GROUP    OF    DESTROYERS    BEING    OUTFITTED 
IN    ONE    OF    THE    WET    BASINS 


building  to  the  sliop  superintendents  and  foremen,  who  was  not 
shouldering  a  load  which  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  carry.  Yet 
the  load  was  carried  not  merely  for  days  or  weeks  but  for  months 
that  slowly  ticked  off  into  the  years  1917,  1918  and  1919.  At  the  same 
time  it  is  no  discredit  to  the  men  to  point  out  that  they  never  could 
have  accomplished  such  remarkable  results  in  the  face  of  manifold 
handicaps  had  not  the  yard  been  laid  out  scientifically  and  an  effi- 
cient organization  developed.  Many  of  the  men  who  bore  the  greatest 
strain  had  had  an  important  share  in  shaping  that  development  over 
the  previous  two  decades. 

To  keep  the  shops  supplied  with  their  never-ending  demand  for 
raw  materials  at  a  time  when  the  nation's  ability  to  produce  and 
transport  these  materials  was  strained  to  the  breaking  point,  was  an 
achievement  of  which  the  Purchasing  Department  may  well  be  proud. 
Some  idea  of  the  scale  on  which  it  worked  may  be  gained  from  the 
following  figures  for  1919:  During  that  year  55,000  invoices  repre- 
senting an  aggregate  bill  of  $35,000,000  for  materials,  were  checked 
and  paid,  and  12,000  carloads  of  freight,  representing  transportation 
charges  of  $1,350,000,  were  received  in  the  storage  yards. 

During  1917  and  1918,  the  years  of  our  active  participation 
in  the  war,  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  delivered  twenty 
merchant  vessels,  totalling  175,965  tons  deadweight,  and  the  United 

49 


iip(«i 


it  att 


I 


^..•,77.  .-■•:<•■• -»-^''X^ 


I  S.S. 

Defender,  freighter 

2  S.S.  Manchuria,  pa 

3  S.S. 

San/a  £/»5a,  passenge 

4  S.S.  Washington  It 

5  S.S. 

Somerset  (now  Ci<y  of 

6  S.S.  i^o'a/  .Irrozii, 

7  S.S. 

Plymouth,  collier 

8  S.S.  Tuikahoe,  coll 

TYPICAL    MERCHANT    VESSE 


r-and-cargo  liner 

argo  liner 

xcursion  steamer 

),  coastwise  passenger  liner 

cer 


BUILT    BY    NEW    YORK    SHIP 


States  Army  Mine  Planter  General  William  M.  Graham.  The  list 
included  seven  tankers  of  78,231  tons  deadweight,  ten  colliers,  of 
81,227  tons,\nc\ud\ngtheTuckahoe ;  and  three  freightersof  16,507  tons. 


LAUNCHING    OF    S 


''tuckahoe'' 


But  an  account  of  New  York  Ship's  activity  during  the  war  is  not 
complete  without  some  mention  of  its  contribution  to  the  work  of  three 
other  yards.  Mr.  Morse  took  the  initial  step  toward  the  fabrication 
of  ships  in  quantity  by  the  extended  use  of  the  templet  system  in 
shipbuilding.  Under  the  stress  of  a  war-time  demand  for  tonnage, 
Mr.  George  J.  Baldwin,  Chairman  of  the  Board,  took  the  second  and 
last  step  when  he  suggested  that  the  structural  shops  of  the  country 
could  fabricate  ships'  parts  from  templets  just  as  exactly  and  effi- 
ciently as  could  the  shops  within  a  shipyard,  and  that  these  parts 
could  then  be  transported  to  the  seaboard  for  assembling  into  ships. 

It  is  a  matter  of  common  knowledge  now  how  the  Government 
finally  decided  to  put  this  plan  into  operation  in  three  great  ship 
assembling  plants  specially  built  for  the  purpose.  It  is  not  as  well 
known,  however,  that  American  International  Corporation  undertook 
the  construction  and  operation  of  Hog  Island,  the  most  stupendous 
undertaking   in   the    history   of    shipbuilding,    largely    because   the 

52 


Corporation  had  available  the  experience  and  skill  of  so  competent 
a  corps  of  shipbuilders  as  constitute  the  staff  of  New  York  Ship. 
These  men  gave  invaluable  counsel  when  the  Hog  Island  plant  was 
being  laid  out,  produced  the  original  set  of  templets  from  which 
was  fabricated  the  steel  for  the  cargo  ships  l)uilt  at  Hog  Island,  and 
assisted  in  the  development  of  the  templets  for  other  vessels  assembled 
elsewere. 

And  it  is  to  be  remembered  that  this  great  contribution  to  the 
success  of  the  fabricated  ship  idea  was  made  by  a  group  of  executives, 
engineers,  shop  superintendents  and  foremen  who  at  the  same  time 
were  trebling  New  York  Ship's  productive  capacity. 

As  fast  as  ways  are  released  from  the  war-time  construction  for 
Government  account,  keels  are  laid  for  contracts  which  are  being 
placed  by  private  interests.  The  present  construction  program 
of  New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  comprises  forty-three  ships  of 
which  all  but  eight  were  actually  under  construction  on  May  15,  1920. 
This  list  includes  the  battleships  Colorado  and  Washington,  for 
the  United  States  Navy,  of  32,600  tons  displacement,  which  are 
to  be  propelled  by  electricity;  the  battle  cruiser  Saratoga  of  43,5(xj 
tons  displacement,  which  will  be  the  largest  type  of  vessel  in  the 
United  States  Navy;  seventeen  destroyers,  of  which  nine  have  been 
launched  and  part  are  practically  ready  for  delivery,  eight  still  being 
on  the  ways;  four  passenger-and-cargo  ships  originally  designed  as 
transports,  S.  S  Wenatchee,  Sea  Girt,  American  Legion  Sind  Keystone 
State,  535  feet  long  and  of  13,340  gross  tons,  which  have  been 
launched ;    five   additional    passenger-and-cargo   ships   of   the   same 


MODEL  OF  THE  SHIPS  OF  THE  ''wENATCHEE''  TYPE 

Nine  of  these  large  passenger-and-cargo  liners  are  being  built  by  New  York  Shipbuilding 

Corporation  for  the  U.  S.  Shipping  Board.     They  are  535  feet  long,  have  a  gross  tonnage 

of  approximately  13,340  tons  and  a  displacement   tonnage  of  21,000,  and   will   have 

accommodations  for  550  passengers.     Their  speed  will  he  17^2  knots. 

53 


type  as  these,  four  of  which  are  under  construction  on  the  ways; 
seven  passenger-and-cargo  ships,  522  feet  long,  but  of  the  same 
displacement,  of  which  three  are  launched  and  four  are  under  con- 
struction on  the  ways;  and  six  oil  tankers  of  which  four  are  of  12,500 
deadweight  tons  and  two  of  10,000  tons.  The  nine  passenger-and- 
cargo  ships  of  the  type  of  S.  S.  Wenatchee  are  among  the  largest 
passenger  liners  at  present  being  built  in  the  United  States.  With  their 
length  of  535  feet  they  have  a  displacement  of  21,000  tons  and 
accommodations  for  550  passengers,  and  have  been  designed  for  a 
speed  of  seventeen  and  a  half  knots.  The  seven  other  passenger- 
carrying  ships  will  have  a  loaded  speed  of  fourteen  knots  and  will 
carry  seventy-eight  passengers.  These  sixteen  vessels  are  for  the 
United  States  Shipping  Board.  An  additional  passenger  liner,  for 
private  interests,  is  included  among  the  present  contracts. 


TYPE    OF    RECIPROCATING 

ENGINE    BEING     BUILT    FOR 

PASSENGER    LINERS 


54 


THE  MEN 

LAND,  buildings,  machines  and  all  manner  of  necessary  equip- 
ment do  not  alone  make  a  shipyard.  It  is  the  skill  and  loyalty  of 
the  great  body  of  men  who  work  together  in  using  this  equipment, 
that  make  renowned  the  plant  and  its  products. 

Shortly  after  Mr.  Morse's  sudden  death  in  June,  1903,  Mr. 
De  Courcy  May,  who  had  been  General  Manager,  was  elected 
President.  Mr.  May  faced  the  difficult  task  of  having  to  continue 
the  development  of  the  organization  at  a  time  when  the  situation 
in  the  shipbuilding  industry  was  such  as  to  make  it  hard  for  even  a 
well  established  yard  to  keep  its  organization  intact.  Mr.  May  met 
the  problem  successfully,  leaving  to  Mr.  Samuel  M.  Knox,  who 
succeeded  him  as  President  in  191 1,  a  well  organized  personnel  and 
a  shipyard  with  a  reputation  for  Iniilding  good  ships.  Mr.  Knox 
held  this  position  until  the  middle  of  191 7  when  he  resigned,  continu- 
ing his  connection  with  the  reorganized  company,  however,  as  a 
Director.  He  was  succeeded  in  the  presidency  by  Mr.  Marvin  A. 
Neeland  who  had  been  Assistant  Vice-President  and  Chief  Engineer 
of  the  United  States  Steel  Corporation  for  several  years  before  1916, 
when  he  became  associated  with  American  International  Corporation 
as  Consulting  Engineer. 

Mr.  Neeland  assumed  his  new  duties  just  at  the  time  when  the 
ship  tonnage  requirements  of  the  Allies  and  of  the  neutral  European 
countries  was  filling  American  shipyards  to  capacity.  He  found  a 
group  of  executives  and  men  loyal  to  New  York  Ship,  jealous  of  the 
established  reputation  of  the  yard  and  proud  of  their  connection 
with  the  plant  in  many  instances  since  its  earliest  days.  Head- 
ing this  organization,  as  Senior  Vice-President,  was  Mr.  H.  A. 
Magoun  who  came  to  New  York  Ship  in  1907,  after  having  had  many 
years  of  practical  experience  not  only  as  a  shipbuilder,  but  also  as  a 
constructor  of  auxiliary  machinery  for  ships  and  as  a  ship  operator. 

The  strain  which  was  put  upon  Mr.  Neeland  and  his  associates 
soon  after  he  assumed  direction  of  the  plant,  may  be  appreciated 
from  a  study  of  the  following  figures:  At  the  beginning  of  191 7 
there  were  4,500  men  employed  in  the  yard;  by  the  end  of  that  year 
the  number  had  grown  to  7,500;  by  the  end  of  1918  it  had  increased 
to  12,000,  and  last  year,  1919,  closed  with  more  than  17,500  on  the 
payroll.  This  period  of  unprecedented  expansion  paralleled  the 
period  in  which  the  whole  country  suffered  from  a  shortage  of  labor 
and  a  decrease  in  the  productive  efficiency  of  the  labor  available.  The 
net  result  was  that  the  price  of  this  huge  increase  in  personnel  was 
a  large  labor  turnover;  in  other  words,  many  more  thousands  of 
men  passed  through  the  plant  in  those  three  years  than  were 
permanently  added  to  the  working  force. 

55 


If  the  new  workingmen  had  been  recruited  from  the  ranks  of 
skilled  shipbuilders,  one-half  of  the  battle  would  never  have  had  to 
be  fought;  but  the  fact  is  that  practically  none  of  them  had  ever 
seen  a  shipyard  before,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  had  had  no 
experience  in  the  fabrication  and  erection  of  structural  steel. 
Every  category  of  unskilled  and  skilled  man,  except  the  experienced 
shipbuilder,  was  attracted  to  America's  shipyards  by  the  high  wages, 
remained  varying  lengths  of  time  and  then  drifted  on.     In  the  war- 


REPRESENTATIVES    OF    FORTY-ONE    NATIONALITIES 
AMONG    THE    WORKMEN    AT    THE    PLANT 

time  race  to  produce  ships,  labor,  before  it  could  be  assimilated  by 
the  ninety-six  skilled  trades  represented  at  the  plant,  had  to  go 
through  as  many  processes  of  "fabrication"  as  did  a  steel  ingot  or 
the  roughest  piece  of  lumber  before  it  was  ready  to  take  its 
appointed  place  in  the  structure  of  a  ship.  The  only  illustration 
paralleling  this  strain  upon  the  veteran  staff  is  that  of  a  skeleton 
regiment  that  must  absorb  a  lot  of  raw  recruits  in  the  middle  of  a 
battle  and  still  carry  on. 

New  York  Ship  went  into  the  war  with  a  tradition  of  accomplish- 
ment behind  it.  Thanks  to  the  loyal  veterans  in  every  part  of  the 
organization  the  new  men  caught  the  spirit  of  this  tradition.  The 
ships  that  have  been  launched  during  the  past  three  years  are  as 
well  designed,  as  staunchly  built  and  as  perfectly  equipped  as  those 
of  a  decade  before.  And  the  whole  organization  is  continuing  with  a 
spirit  of  team-play  which  has  gained  rather  than  lost  from  the 
heavy  strain  of  the  war  period. 

TO  DEVELOP  the  efficiency  of  the  men  on  the  job  and  to  build 
up  this  splendid  spirit  of  team-play,  the  Corporation  has  gone 
to  the  very  bottom  in  formulating  its  plans  for  meeting  and  handling 
the  human  equation.     There  is  little  that  is  novel  in  the  general 

56 


basis  of  this  program.  Most  of  it  is,  in  one  form  or  another,  common 
to  the  organization  of  many  large  industrial  units  in  this  country. 
It  is,  however,  carried  out  with  a  whole-hearted  sincerity  that  makes 
it  a  strong  factor  in  building  up  a  permanent  personnel  which  will 
take  an  active  and  intelligent  interest  in  the  construction  of  good 
ships.  The  first  essential  is  to  attract  men  from  whom  to  select  the 
most  efficient  working  force.  The  second  essential  is  to  continue  this 
attraction  in  a  way  that  will  hold  this  force  together. 

The  fundamental  attraction,  of  course,  is  pay  which,  in  a  highly 
competitive  industry,  cannot  be  appreciably  higher  per  unit  of  pro- 
duction than  obtains  in  other  plants.  In  order  to  afford  the  men  an 
opportunity  for  advancement,  a  series  of  classes  in  some  of  the 
principal  trades  is  given  under  the  supervision  of  the  Works  Man- 
ager's office.  These  classes  include  ship-fitting  and  riveting  schools, 
evening  blue-print  reading  classes,  a  rate-setting  course,  an  appren- 
tice school  and  special  courses,  in  addition  to  a  cooperative  plan 
carried  out  with  the  Drexel  Institute  in  Philadelphia.  During  the 
rapid  expansion  of  the  plant,  the  ship-fitting  school  had  a  capacity 
for  250  men,  and  at  one  time  the  blue-print  classes  took  care  of  200 
men.     At  the  present  time  there  are  225  men  in  the  apprentice  school. 

But  wages  are  only  a  part  of  the  appeal  that  will  attract  and 
hold  the  class  of  men  necessary  to  build  ships  in  the  way  they  must 


ONE    OF    THE    PATRIOTIC    MASS    MEETINGS    HELD 

DURING    THE    WAR 


57 


be  built  at  New  York  Ship,  The  conditions  under  which  the  men 
work  must  be  right;  the  men  must  feel  that  they  are  a  part  of  a 
great  shipbuilding  team  rather  than  isolated  units  in  the  scheme  of 
production.  This  fact  was  fully  realized  in  all  branches  of  industry 
during  the  war  and  the  Government  led  in  the  campaign  to  develop 
each  man's  interest  in  his  job  by  relating  that  job  to  the  whole  task 
of  winning  the  war.  It  is  even  more  difficult,  but  equally  necessary, 
to  arouse  and  hold  the  interest  of  the  men  in  the  daily  grind  of  peace- 
time industry. 

The  cooperation  of  New  York  Ship  with  the  men  in  its  employ 
may  be  divided  roughly  into  two  classifications:  matters  affecting 
the  men  during  working  hours  and  thus  directly  related  to  the  opera- 
tion of  the  plant,  and  cooperation  with  the  men  in  developing  any 
organization  which  will  bring  them  together  during  their  leisure 
hours  in  a  community  of  interest  and  thus  aid  in  establishing  a  belter 
spirit  of  team-play. 

All  of  the  more  important  shops  representing  the  great  bulk  of 
the  working  force,  have  shop  committees,  the  organization  of  which 
is  left  entirely  with  the  men.  Their  chairmen  meet  with  the  Works 
Manager  twice  a  month  to  discuss  questions  relating  to  the  working 
interests  of  the  men;  and  at  other  times,  when  problems  local  to 
some  one  shop  are  to  be  talked  over,  the  Manager  meets  with  the 
whole  committee  of  that  shop.    At  all  times,  however,  the  Manager's 


O  N_E    OF^THE    ROOMS 


IN    THE    YARD    HOSPITAL 


58 


office  is  open  to  individuals  who  wish  to  take  up  their  requests  or 
complaints  directly  rather  than  through  their  shop  committee. 

Supplementing  the  preventive  work  of  a  "Safety  First"  organiza- 
tion among  the  men  themselves,  is  the  complete  machinery  of  modern 
surgical  and  medical  care  provided  by  the  Corporation.  A  fully 
equipped  dressing  station  is  located  near  the  center  of  the  yard,  with 
a  branch  in  the  South  Yard,  and  doctors  and  nurses  with  necessary 
ambulance  service  are  in  attendance  at  all  times  that  the  men  are  at 
work.  Men  with  minor  injuries  not  requiring  care  in  the  public 
hospitals  report  daily  at  the  company  hospital  for  redressings  or  are 
visited  in  their  own  homes.  The  hospital  also  cooperates  with  the 
employment  department  in 
physically  examining  all  accept- 
ed applicants  for  jobs  with  the 
view  to  seeing  that  they  are  fitted 
for  their  proposed  work.  Em- 
ployees of  the  commissary  are 
examined  periodically  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  communicable 
diseases. 

As  in  the  case  of  most  indus- 
ries  located  on  the  outskirts  of  a 
city,  there  are  few  suitable  eating 
facilities  within  easy  access  of  the 
plant  during  the  lunch  hour.  To 
meet  this  need  a  noonday  lunch- 
eon service  operated  through  a 
concessionaire  has  been  built  up 
to  include  a  comprehensive  system  of  cafeterias  and  lunch  counters. 
The  main  yard  restaurant  occupies  the  entire  second  floor  of  a  large 
locker  and  shower  building  in  the  center  of  the  yard,  has  eight  lines 
of  self-service  and  can  accommodate  i  ,400  men  at  one  time.  Food 
for  the  whole  system,  which  also  includes  a  dining-room  for  the  execu- 
tive officers,  is  cooked  in  central  kitchens  and  distributed  to  the  vari- 
ous restaurants  and  cafeterias,  thus  giving  uniformity  to  the  quality 
of  food  served  to  all  who  want  to  buy,  from  president  to  day  laborer. 
A  store  has  been  started  within  the  yard  to  sell  groceries  and  other 
supplies  to  the  men  at  cost  prices. 

In  addition  to  the  workmen's  accident  compensation  required 
by  State  law  there  was  inaugurated  at  New  York  Ship,  effective 
September  28,  191 7,  a  plan  of  insurance  under  which  a  man  on  com- 
pleting his  first  year  of  service  becomes  entitled  to  a  life  insurance 
policy  for  $500.  The  amount  of  this  policy  is  increased  $100  each 
year  during  his  continued  service  with  the  plant  until  a  maximum  of 
$2,500  is  reached.    The  insurance  plan  was  made  retroactive  for  all 


■  S  E  L  F  -  S  E  R  V  I  C  E    1  JSl     Til  ]•; 
MAIN    CAFETERIA 


59 


employees,  including,  therefore,  those  whose  services  dated  back  to 
the  old  New  York  Shipbuilding  Company  before  its  reorganization. 
The  insurance  scheme  went  into  effect  with  a  total  of  2,153  i^ieri 
insured  for  $2,118,200.  By  April  i,  1920,  this  had  increased  to  9,043 
employees  insured  for  $6,230,100  and  a  total  of  $93,500  had  been 
paid  to  119  beneficiaries.  That  the  plan  is  popular  with  the  men 
and  that  it  has  been  a  factor  in  holding  those  who  might  otherwise 
have  accepted  offers  from  other  plants,  have  been  attested  by  many 
statements  made  to  the  company. 

The  rapid  increase  during  the  war  period  in  the  number  of  men 
employed,  brought  about  the  serious  problem  of  providing  additional 
housing  facilities  and  the  requisite  transportation  of  this  great  body 
of  men  to  and  from  the  plant.  To  relieve  the  transportation  situation 
a  large  number  of  additional  street  cars  were  purchased  for  the 
Public  Service  Corporation  by  the  Emergency  Fleet  Corporation 
for  the  operation  of  a  special  service  to  handle  the  peak  load  morning 
and  evening.  Additional  trains  were  put  into  service  on  the  branch 
of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad  running  back  of  the  plant,  which  carries 
large  numbers  of  men  into  Camden  and  to  the  Philadelphia  ferries; 
and  on  the  branch  of  the  Philadelphia  &  Reading,  which  serves  some 
of  the  Camden  suburbs.  There  is  also  river  boat  service  from  the 
plant  to  Camden  and  Philadelphia. 

The  greatest  factor  in  the  relief  of  the  housing  situation  was  the 
construction  by  New  York  Ship  on  behalf  of  the  Emergency  Fleet 
Corporation  of  an  extensive  housing  project  embracing  what  are 
known  as  Morgan  Village  and  Yorkship  Village,  having  a  total  of 
sixteen  hundred  homes  within  easy  walking  distance  of  the  yard. 
Morgan  Village,  the  smaller  part  of  this  development,  consists  of 
two  hundred  brick  houses  built  in  rows  wherever  vacant  lots  could 
be  obtained  along  the  streets  back  of  the  plant.  They  are  unpre- 
tentious in  design  but  are  new  and  comfortable  and  have  been  filled 
from  the  time  they  were  first  ready  for  occupancy. 

Yorkship  Village  is  designed  to  provide  something  more  than 
mere  living  accommodations — modern  homes  in  permanently  attrac- 
tive surroundings.  A  250-acre  farm  within  the  city  limits  of  Camden 
was  bought  and  developed  into  a  self  contained  "garden  city"  with  a 
pleasing  variety  of  brick,  frame  and  stucco  houses  of  Colonial  design. 
They  form  a  village  of  1,386  houses,  fifty-six  apartments  and  a  dozen 
stores.  The  ground  plan  of  the  village  comprises  a  central  square 
from  which  a  long  rectangular  common  and  broad  avenues  radiate 
with  smaller  squares  and  ovals  between  them.  Paved  streets  and 
sidewalks  and  extensive  plantations  of  shade  trees,  formal  evergreens, 
box  and  shrubs  already  give  a  sense  of  completeness  to  the  develop- 
ment. The  houses  themselves  are  equipped  with  hot-air  furnaces, 
electric  lights  and  gas  ranges.     The  water  system  is  connected  with 

60 


FAIRVIEW,    FORMERLY    CALLED    YORKSHIP    VILLAGE 

A  part  of  the  war-time  housing  development  undertaken  in  cooperation  with  the 

Emergency  Fleet  Corporation. 

the  artesian  wells  of  Camden,  and  the  sewerage  system,  built  sepa- 
rately with  its  own  disposal  plant,  has  now  been  joined  with  the 
city's.  The  municipal  authorities  have  cooperated  by  building  a 
$50,000  fire-house  and  a  school  which  will  cost  $300,000  when  com- 
plete. Sites  have  been  reserved  for  churches  of  the  major  denomina- 
tions. Adjoining  one  side  of  the  Village  is  an  eighteen-acre  athletic 
field  with  gymnasium,  clubhouse,  running  track  and  grandstands. 
New  York  Shipbuilding  Corporation  has  lately  released  its  direct 
interest  in  these  two  housing  projects,  content  that,  having  done  its 
part  in  carrying  these  developments  to  completion,  the  operation 
should  be  in  the  hands  of  those  whose  business  it  is  to  conduct  such 
real  estate  activity.  Since  this  change,  Yorkship  Village  has  been 
renamed  Fairview. 


THE  various  activities  mentioned  above,  such  as  hospital  care, 
commissary,  housing  and  group  insurance,  which  tend  directly 
to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  men  on  the  job,  are  handled  and 
supervised   by  the    Industrial  Service   Manager.       His   department 

61 


performs  equally  important  work  in  another  field,  that  of  cooperat- 
ing with  the  men  in  their  off-hour  interests  to  the  end  that  a  greater 
spirit  of  team-play  and  of  interest  in  the  plant  is  built  up  among 
them.  Activity  in  this  field  is  restricted  to  assisting  the  men  in  con- 
ducting the  organizations  which  they  have  started  on  their  own 
initiative,  by  handling  the  inevitable  details  which  arise  in  the  con- 
duct of  any  group  interest  and  which  so  often  stifle  the  enthusiasm  of 
such  an  interest.  With  this  help  in  attending  to  details  the  men  of 
New  York  Ship  have  organized  an  athletic  association  which  has 
already  established  itself  as  an  important  influence  in  the  develop- 
ment of  an  even  better  morale.  Not  content  with  a  successful  year 
in  promoting  company  and  departmental  teams  in  a  variety  of 
sports,  New  York  Ship  Athletic  Association  has  purchased  one  of 
the  finest  clubhouses  in  Camden  and  is  continually  extending  its 
interests  and  activities  among  the  men  of  the  plant.  With  similar 
assistance  from  the  Industrial  Service  Department,  the  men  have 
further  perfected  their  band  and  organized  other  musical  societies, 
and  have  maintained  the  New  York  Ship  War  Savings  Society  in  the 
front  rank  of  such  societies  in  the  industrial  plants  of  the  country. 


CLUBHOUSE    Of    NEW    YORK    SHIP    ATHLETIC    ASSOCIATION 

62 


WAR    SAVINGS    SOCIETY    BULLETIN    BOARD 

Placed  near  the  main  entrance  to  the  plant,  this  board  reflected  the  keen  inter- 
departmental rivalry  in  the  war-time  savings  campaign. 


Organized  by  the  men  in  March,  191 8,  this  society  invested  more 
than  $600,000  in  War  Savings  stamps  before  the  end  of  that  year, 
and  added  another  $210,000  during  1919.  At  the  present  time 
more  than  2,000  men  are  subscribing  for  $5,000  a  week  in  War  Savings 
Stamps,  by  deductions  which  they  have  requested  to  be  made  from 
their  pay  envelopes.  The  subscriptions  vary  from  $1  to  as  high  as 
I40  in  one  case,  with  an  important  number  at  $15  and  $25.  In  ad- 
dition to  this  regular  subscription,  an  average  of  $1,500  is  being 
invested  each  week  by  men  who  prefer  to  make  cash  payments. 

The  War  Savings  Society  was  the  medium  through  which  the 
men  subscribed  to  the  Fourth  Liberty  Loan  and  to  the  Victory  Loan, 
these  investments  amounting  to  $238,000  and  $799,950.  respectively. 
These  figures  compare  with  $76,000,  $50,000  and  $280,000,  respec- 
tively, which  the  men  subscribed  in  the  first  three  loans  prior  to  the 
organization  of  the  Society.  It  was  also  the  agency  through  which 
the  men  expressed  their  interest  in  the  Red  Cross,  Salvation  Army 
and  Roosevelt  Memorial  Drives. 

The  Industrial  Service  Department  has  recently  been  asked  by 
the  men  to  cooperate  with  them  in  the  conduct  of  the  Shipbuilders' 
Home  Building  and  Loan  Association  which  was  started  in  February, 
1904,  with  an  original  issue  of  632  shares.  The  last  issue,  February 
20,  1920,  amounted  to  approximately  2,350  shares  of  which  1,445 
were  subscribed  at  the  office  of  the  Industrial  Service  Department. 

Facilities  have  also  been  provided  by  the  Department  for  classes 
in  English  for  foreign-born  workers,  and  for  helping  those  who  desire 
to  take  out  their  citizenship  papers. 

Unifying  all  these  activities  is  Yorkship  News,  an  illustrated 
monthly  publication  devoted  to  the  interests  of  the  personnel,  the 

63 


shipyard  and  shipbuilding  in  general.  Started  as  a  sixteen-page 
paper  in  the  spring  of  191 9,  it  already  has  grown  to  twenty-eight 
pages  in  size  and  expects  soon  to  add  another  four  pages  in  order 
more  adequately  to  cover  the  news  in  and  about  the  shipyard.  An 
interesting  feature  is  the  publishing  of  the  photographs  of  all  em- 
ployees who  during  the  month  of  issue  celebrate  their  tenth  anniver- 
sary with  New  York  Ship. 


A    CONCERT    BY    TilE    PLANT    BAND 

This  picture  was  taken  from  the  steps  of  the  office  administration  building,  across 
Broadway  from  the  main  entrance  to  the  yard. 


64 


SUCH  are  the  ships  produced  and  the  equipment  and  capacity  of 
the  plant  itself,  such  the  interests  of  the  men  who  build  these 
ships,  who  are  coming  ever  closer  together  in  a  spirit  of  team-play 
and  of  common  interest  not  only  in  the  tradition  of  the  yard's  accom- 
plishments, but  also  in  its  potentialities. 

In  the  upbuilding  of  our  merchant  marine  for  foreign  trade,  this 
country  must  supplement  its  ordinary  cargo  ships  with  the  fast 
passenger-express  steamers  and  passenger-and-cargo  liners  which,  by 
providing  direct  communication  with  the  ports  of  the  world  for 
merchants  and  mail,  form  the  backbone  of  a  nation's  commercial 
expansion.  European  yards  will  be  engaged  for  many  years  in  the 
rehabilitation  of  their  own  merchant  fleets;  of  the  American  yards 
New  York  Ship  stands  in  the  first  rank  in  ability  to  produce  these 
specialized  types  capable  of  successful  competition  with  the  fleets  of 
other  countries.    Among  the  shipyards  of  the  world.  New  York  Ship 


PASSENGER     LINERS     OUTFITTING     IN     THE     WET     SLIP 


65 


is  preeminent,  not  only  in  the  number  of  shipways  and  their  size, 
but  in  the  fundamental  strength  of  its  shop  system  as  well. 

Attesting  this  ability  to  build  large  ships  well  is  the  record  of  the 
fleet  turned  out  by  New  York  Ship  and  now  being  rapidly  augmented 
as  the  facilities,  trebled  and  improved  to  meet  war  demands,  are 
applied  to  peace-time  requirements.  Many  of  these  ships  have  made 
conspicuous  contributions  to  America's  achievements  in  the  war. 
Among  them  may  be  named  S.  S.  Mongolia  and  Manchuria  which, 
converted  into  transports  in  their  fourteenth  year,  rendered  im- 
portant service  in  the  carrying  of  troops  and  supplies;  the  tanker 
Gulflighl  which  proved  her  staunch  construction  by  her  performance 
after  being  torpedoed,  and  the  collier  Tuckahoe,  delivered  during  the 
war  in  record-breaking  time. 

And  the  performance  of  New  York  Ship's  naval  fleet  has  matched 
that  of  her  merchant  ships,  the  latest  brilliant  example  being  that  of 
U.  S.  S.  Idaho,  a  vessel  of  the  largest  type  now  in  commission  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  which  so  recently  established  a  triple  record  for 
speed,  gunnery  and  engineering  efiiciency.  The  officers  and  men  of 
the  Idaho  generously  share  with  her  builders  the  credit  of  her  hne 
performance,  and  the  men  at  New  York  Ship  realize  in  turn  that  it 
would  be  almost  impossible  for  them  steadily  to  produce  war  vessels 
and  merchantmen  which  establish  high  performance  records  if  they 
did  not  have  shop  and  way  facilities  designed  for  the  efficient  applica- 
tion of  good  workmanship. 

But  after  all  is  said  and  done,  it  is  the  gun-pointer  and  not  the 
gun,  the  workman  and  not  his  tools,  who  makes  the  records;  it  is  this 
skill  of  a  great  body  of  shipbuilders  who  have  been  trained  to  the 
most  exacting  tasks  of  intricate  ship  construction,  this  loyalty  to  the 
organization  with  which  so  many  of  the  men  have  served  for  the 
best  part  of  its  twenty  years'  existence  and  of  which  so  many  more 
became  a  part  during  the  stress  of  war-time  work,  that  are  the 
intangible  yet  powerful  forces  that  make  of  New  York  Shipbuilding 
Corporation  the  world's  premier  shipyard. 


1.  I.    mjm   I.  .  i:U)tii;...ji.4g^^'MWi<M'PWliltojllilW 

66 


~    «--A 


Photographs  by  New   York  Shipbuilding  Corporation 
Staff  Photographers,  unless  otherwise  credited. 


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LD  21-50ni-l,'33 


